


Finding a Family

by Meg_bookaholic



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Multi, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-08-29 18:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8499781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meg_bookaholic/pseuds/Meg_bookaholic
Summary: Nora is a former Woodbury resident who was caught in the war between the Governor and Rick's group. After the traumatic events that happen that day, Nora gets away believing herself to be the last survivor when she hears yelling coming from the prison, "Maggie!" Shocked, she goes back which leads her on a journey with Glenn to find Maggie, and eventually find the family she never had within Rick's group. (just started this November 2016, but will update often as long as people check it out and enjoy it)





	1. Helping a Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> [The Walking Dead does not belong to me, even though I wish it did]
> 
> Author note: Hopefully you guys like this fanfic! It's my first one, so I'm nervous, but excited :) This starts in the middle of season 4 and I plan to continue on to at least the Negan era if I can. So yeah, hopefully this is a fun read for people, I'm basically focusing on the Team Family aspect of Rick's group, so there will definitely be fluff. (And this is not a Glenn/Nora fanfic, I'm keeping Glenn and Maggie, and keeping Rick and Michonne)  
> Enjoy!

Nora risked a quick glance back at the crackling flames, rising rapidly. She feebly covered her mouth and nose as much as she could to keep from inhaling more of the smoke and started limping over into the woods. The growls and moans of the biters seemed to come from all around, but she stayed focused on her feet trudging their way through the rotting leaves.  
I've got to get out of here, I've got to find shelter.  
She kept her mind occupied with her current job to find herself shelter where she could bind her wounds and start scavenging in nearby houses for anything useful. She had gotten used to the parties and food of Woodbury and hadn't been outside the walls before that day. They all knew that outside those walls the world was ending and that people were still out there fighting for each breath, and I think that when the Governor started training them for the past few weeks to take the prison they thought they stood a chance, mostly because they were so blinded by how bad the outside actually was. They got cocky, and now people she had just been talking to that morning were either dead or escaping into the woods like she was. They didn't think about the fact that while they were protected inside walls and attempting to forget that the world turned to shit, there were other people such as this prison group who had to fight to live day by day. And that's why they lost, they were delusional.  
Nora gripped each tree trunk she passed to help her move more efficiently and looked up to the distant opening in the trees that she knew would lead her to the train tracks they passed on their way there. Huffing, she tried moving quicker to get away from the biter hoard and towards the only chance she had.  
The smoke from the tank was getting higher and the darkness of it was more evident against the sunny sky. A sudden snap jolted Nora, and she whipped her head up to see a few stray biters coming towards her from the opening she was moving towards.  
Damn, they must have seen the smoke.  
She tucked herself as small as she could behind the nearest tree and made herself as silent as she could, holding her breath and slowly moving to grab the knife on her side. She waited until their shuffling feet were right next to her and jumped out, stabbing the nearest one in the forehead and pushing it away before checking if it was dead so she could make her move on the next two. One opened its mouth and she heard a muffled click of it's jaw as it appeared to come unhinged, the skin flaying off the bones. She stabbed it and pushed it as she did to the first, but she didn't push it away quick enough and the last biter grabbed at her left arm and brought it to its mouth. Her instincts kicked in and she kicked it's knee in and watched it collapse because of it's already decaying state, and jabbed the knife through it's skull.  
Nora looked down at the corpses and leaned her back against a tree, catching her breath. The adrenaline of everything that had happened that day was starting to wear off and she noticed her hands were starting to shake from the weight of everything. Stuffing her knife back into the belt at her side, she continued on.  
The light of the clearing was close, and she allowed herself to feel a small inkling of hope. Perhaps she would survive this after all. She covered her eyes as she breached the clearing, and that's when she heard the yell.  
“Maggie!”  
She stopped immediately and waited, sure that she had imagined it but knowing that it wouldn't hurt to try and see if anything happened.  
Another distant, “Maggie!,” came from the direction of the prison and Nora took a step back in surprise.  
No, there couldn't be any survivors left there, right?  
After another yell of Maggie's name, Nora started going back as quickly as she could on her injured leg. She kept going through the internal struggle of deciding if she should call it quits and go back towards the tracks and survive on her own, or continue towards the voice, towards another survivor. But it was also towards the dozens of biters littering the prison yard. And by the time she had reached the edge of the forest and saw the destroyed prison, it was too late to go back.


	2. The Pizza Delivery Boy

Nora attempted to stay of of view of the biters as long as she could by skirting along the edge of the trees, clinging to her knife just in case she needed to react quickly. She found the man yelling that woman's name from the top of a cement slab surrounded by the undead. Crouching low and trying to move smoothly as not to make any loud noises, she got to where she was straight across from him so he could see her.   
For the multiple time in the last two minutes, she had a fleeting thought of whether or not she should leave and go back to the tracks, but she repressed the thought again and reminded herself this was the right thing to do, even if it was also the harder thing. She exhaled and stood up, throwing her arms up and waving them to capture his attention.  
Nora shoved down the urge to cough from the smoke in the field and kept her eyes on the stranger who was starting to look in her direction. She kept doing motions with her arms and he finally saw her. She was far away but could still see the moment he realized he wasn't alone, eyebrows raised in shock. It only lasted for a second before he sprung into action, looking around for anything useful. He noticed he was only a jump away from one of the prison entrances and he immediately made his move, jumping over the divide of biters reaching their arms out for their next meal. But he made it, and Nora watched as he disappeared through the door.   
He didn't show up again until a few minutes later, decked out in what appeared to be a prison guard uniform, and Nora came back out from behind the tree she ducked down behind while waiting to see if he ever showed up again. He then through a bottle of alcohol with a fiery rag sticking out the end and she watched as a car about 20 feet away from him exploded into flames. Distracted by both the noise and the light, the biters started shuffling towards it.   
Nora then realized this was the time to help, and she started running right as Glenn starting his escape towards the woods. She caught up with him and helped fend off the ones that made their way too close for comfort. They both started going as fast as they could towards the woods, figuring it would be easier to run than to try and kill more. That was one good thing about the dead, they're slow. So she kept running with the stranger she had never talked to, and hoped her coming back wasn't for nothing. One thing she had figured out is the apocalypse tends to bring out the worst in people. The prime example was the Governor. Her, along with everyone else in Woodbury believed him to be a man just trying his hardest to make the most out of the shitty hand they were dealt. He made it a point to remember everyone's name, their families and friends, so he could easily blend in with anyone, no matter who they were. He made you feel special, like you were old friends. None of them knew how vile he was until it was too late. So looking over at this stranger she had just helped, she wondered.  
They didn't stop until they were at the train tracks, and then Nora bent over, hand on her knees. Sweat made its way down her freckled face and she watched a drop hit the ground. Panting, she looked up and wiped her arm on her forehead, trying to keep the sweat from getting in her eyes.   
"Hi, I'm Glenn," he panted.  
Nora wiped her clammy palms on her jeans and extended a hand, "Nora."  
He accepted it, "so, um, why'd you come back?" Glenn looked at her in confusion, but she could see the distrust there too. It was too early for either of them to draw conclusions on one another.  
She sighed and looked down at her worn out boots, their original color now replaced by layers of dirt and blood.   
“I guess it just didn't feel right to leave you there. Trust me, I thought about it,” she looks back up at Glenn, “but I couldn't. I was a caretaker before this all started,” she gestured to their surroundings, “I got that job so I could help people. Something like that doesn't just go away I guess.”  
“Caretaker, huh? I delivered pizzas.”  
They both shared small smiles and then his face went back to it's original seriousness, “Did you happen to see a bus leave when the attack started?”  
She shuffled through her memories of the day, “no, I don't think so. You looking for someone?”  
There was desperation and sadness in his eyes, “my wife, Maggie. I was on a bus and I don't think she saw me get off.”  
“How do you know if she made it?”  
“I don't know for sure, but her father, Hershel told me all I had to do is believe, so that's what I'm gonna do.”   
Hershel, that name sounds familiar, she thought. But before she could duel upon it too long, snarling interrupted them and they both whipped around to see five biters coming towards them. Glenn was thrown off by turning around that quick and realized he had forgotten about his illness. His vision started darkening around the edges and he fought to stay alert when he heard Nora's panicked voice near his head.   
Nora fell to her knees where Glenn had collapsed and started shaking his chest, “Glenn, hey Glenn.” She started shaking him roughly trying to get him up before the biters trap them. She felt one grab at the back of her shirt trying to lure her lose enough so it could bite the back of her neck, and she swung out with her knife.  
“Duck!”  
Nora obeyed the voice and dropped, shielding her head when gunfire started. There was a thus as each biter dropped, all killed with a head shot.   
Abraham jumped down from the military vehicle, slamming the door. He walked in front of the truck with his machine gun on his hip, adding to his already intimidating appearance. Rosita and Eugene following behind, and they all looked down at a disheveled Nora and an unconscious Glenn.   
“Hope you enjoyed the show, assholes!,” Nora yelled.  
Abraham smirked, “you got a damn mouth on you, you know that? What else you got?”


	3. On the Road to D.C

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Walking Dead does not belong to me

Glenn slowly came to, his eyes squinting in the unexpected brightness. A low rumble and vibration caused the bulletproof vest he was wearing to create a clattering noise against the floor of the truck. He sat up, a sharp pain in his head making him cringe, and he looked at the surroundings passing by.  
He was still recollecting what happened before everything went black when he heard a voice from behind him, “you okay?”  
Glenn turned, coming face to face with a sun burnt girl, her ginger hair coming out of the makeshift bun she had made days ago. He then remembered the events that had happened before he blacked out, and that this girl helped him. He knew he shouldn't start to trust her as quickly as he was just because she had went back for him, but that was just his nature. He didn't believe that everyone had turned bad like Shane or the Governor, he knew there were people out there that were still inherently kind and caring like Maggie and Hershel. He just hoped his gut feeling on Nora was correct, and she was in fact good.  
He gave a slight nod, “where are we?”  
“This group saved us when you blacked out. If they hadn't come, I don't know if we would have made it. I usually wouldn't have gone, the last person who helped me ended up chopping some poor old man's head off, but I didn't really see another option. I mean you were knocked out, and I couldn't fight them-”  
Glenn cut her off, “old man with his head chopped off?”  
She stuttered, caught by surprise, “yeah. The leader of my community, the Governor, he captured two of your people to bargain with your leader. I swear I didn't know how insane he was when I went to the prison, we were just desperate, things have gotten bad lately and the Governor made it sound like your whole group were murderers and rapists, and we realized he lied when it was too late.”  
Glenn leaned close to Nora, his eyes piercing, “who did he take? Which two people?”  
Inside, Glenn knew who the old man she spoke of was, there was only one older man in their group. He just didn't want to accept it.  
“Um, it was a woman with dreads, she has a katana. The other was an old man with a white beard, a small ponytail. The Governor killed him with the woman's katana.”  
Glenn fell back against the side of the truck and grabbed onto the the chain of the pocket watch he had carried with him since the day Hershel gave it to him as a way of accepting him into the family. Since the day Hershel had shown that he saw Glenn as a son.  
“I'm sorry,” Nora said gently. She then sat there with him, only the noises of the vehicle filling the space between them. She knew he needed a moment, and watched as he went from despair to determination. And just when she noticed a change, he looked up at her, “did we pass a bus?”  
“Yeah, about three hours ago.”  
Glenn got closer to her face and his voice lowered slightly, “what did you see?”  
Nora paused, “they were all dead.”  
He stood up and started hitting the glass dividing them from Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene. “Hey! Stop the truck!”  
Abraham took one hand off the steering wheel to give the middle finger to Glenn, visibly making him impatient. Glenn started hitting the glass with the side of his fist and continued his yelling at them to stop.  
Nora then joined him, hitting where she assumed was where the driver was sitting. “Stop the truck!”  
Glenn took his gun out and hit the butt of it against the glass, cracks immediately appearing and spreading across the surface the harder he hit. Right when Nora thought it would give, a screeching pierced the air and the truck came to a sudden halt. Glenn leaned on his knees, feeling the exhaustion get to him from moving too much when he was still sick.  
Nora settled a hand on his shoulder, in concern before jumping out the back of the truck. Glenn joined her side, both looking at an irritated Abraham before Glenn grabbed his bag he got from the prison and started walking down the road in the direction they came. Nora stood for a moment before following, figuring even though she didn't know Glenn, she had known him longer than the group that picked them up. Not by long, she had only known him for at most ten minutes before the new group had shown up, but she blamed the caretaker in her for feeling obligated to look after the guy she had helped and see that the illness he had didn't kill him. That, or the biters.  
Abraham marched after them, “what the hell are you doing?”  
We both ignored him, and Abraham jogged to get in front of us, “I don't know if either of you know how important it is that you stay in that vehicle, but you better move your asses on back, because we are on a time sensitive mission here, people!”  
Glenn looked at Abraham almost lazily, like no matter what Abraham said, it wouldn't matter. “Get out of my way.”  
Abraham inhaled slowly, and looked down at Glenn, “We need people. And when you find a good group of like minded people, you stick together like wet on water, you hear me? And we both know that even with that pack of yours, you won't last a night alone out there.”  
Glenn seemed to size Abraham up a moment before moving, “I'll take my chances.”  
Rosita and Nora both reached towards their own weapons as Abraham put a hand on Glenn's chest to stop him, “I have to insist that you get back in that damn vehicle, because the entire fate of the human race might depend on it.”  
Glenn through Abraham's hand off, “what the hell are you talking about?” He looked over to Nora, “who the hell is this guy?”  
Abraham stood up straighter, “I'm sergeant Abraham Ford and these are my companions, Rosita Espinosa, and doctor Eugene Porter.” Nora looked over at the two who she had yet to hear speak a word. “We're getting Eugene to Washington D.C. He's a scientist, and knows exactly what caused this mess.”  
Nora took a step back in surprise. Someone who could know how all of this happened? Someone who knew what ended up getting her whole family killed, her community? Could it be possible that the man who had been in the same truck as her for hours was also the guy who had all the answers to the what the world had become, and she didn't even know it?  
Glenn smoothed back his greasy hair and looked back as Abraham, “all right, so what happened?”  
“It's classified. Eugene has been trying to contact people in Washington but nobody's picked up. We were on our way when we saw you two on the side of the road, figured we could use more people.”  
Glenn sighed, “sorry.” and started walking, Nora quickly going to his side.  
She murmured to him, “hey, I know how to get to the bus. I started writing down every turn they made after we were picked up. I'll get you back if I can, it's kind of the least I can do after being a part of the army that attacked your group.”  
Glenn glanced over at her, “that's where Maggie would go to find me, so that's where I'm gonna go.”  
Abraham stayed on their heels, “it's a waste of time. Nora told us what went down. There's no chance you'll ever see your wife again, because sorry to tell you, but she's gone. There's no point in you dying too. Now get back to the truck and do something with your life.”  
Glenn stopped in his tracks and slowly slid the pack off of his shoulder. It clattered to the ground and Nora looked between Abraham and Glenn, her fingers twitching towards the knife just in case. Even though she knew she had never killed a human before, and wouldn't now, instinct just told her to have a weapon ready.  
Glenn suddenly turned and threw a punch right at Abraham's face. Abraham dropped and held a hand to the blood dripping out of his nose.  
Grabbing the pack, Glenn started leaving, “she's alive and I'm finding her.”  
Abraham jumped up and started running at Glenn's back, “you son of a bitch!” He grabbed the pack on his back and through him to the ground.  
“Hey!,” Nora yelled, running towards the two now fighting on the ground. She ran and tried ripping Abraham's arm away from Glenn, but he through his arm out and she fell to the ground. Abraham then shoved his forearm on Glenn's throat, causing him to wheeze, and Nora made a grab at him arm again but to no avail.  
Come on, Nora, what did dad teach you in self defense?Nose, crotch, throat, a mans weak spots.  
Nora then got on her knees so she could be near Abraham's head, and punched her fist in an upward motion so it connected with his nose with a crack.  
Abraham's arms slipped off Glenn's throat and Nora heard Glenn take in too much air at once, sending him into a coughing fit.  
Abraham held his nose with a groan and looked with a glare at Nora, “what the fuck?!” He started going towards her when they heard a gun going off.  
All of them looked towards the source of the noise and saw Eugene trying to shoot the small hoard of biters coming out of the cornfield on the other side of the street. They all moved at once, getting their weapons out and moving in to attack. Nora noticed one getting near her and raised her blade when someone else grabbed it first, shooting it's brain. They threw the body away and Nora saw that it was Glenn, giving him a small nod and going over towards the next.  
She killed her second biter with her knife when she got impatient with how impractical it was for a hoard like this. A few biters? Yeah, a knife's great, but twelve or more are better taken care of with a gun. So she jogged to the military truck, and went to where she saw Rosita grab a gun out of the corner of her eye. Nora grabbed the first gun she found and tried to go through the steps of her weapon training she had at Woodbury.  
By the time she remembered how to work with a gun, there was only one left. She raised the gun and fired, hitting it in the stomach. Rosita took care of it, and they all exhaled, looking at one another.  
It was Abraham who heard the sound first. “Son of a dick.”  
Nora turned around and saw Abraham inspecting the now ruined truck.  
Abraham grunted, “we were running a convoy in one of these. Came up a dune and there was a camel that looked like it was about to puke. Probably because it was packed with about four pounds of C-4 up it's ass. We were within twenty feet of that blast, and drove home. So you tell me how in the holy hell you possibly killed this truck,” he ended, looking over to Eugene.  
Eugene looked to Abraham with no change, “a fully amped up state and an ignorance of rapid-firing weapons.”  
Nora hid a smirk at how deadpan Eugene sounded about the whole situation, even though she knew that if she was in Abraham's position, she'd be pissed too.  
To Nora's left, Rosita picked up a Polaroid off the side of the road and reached out to Glenn, "hey, this yours?”  
He took the picture of Maggie sleeping, and walked over to Abraham.  
“I hope you guys make it to Washington.”  
Glenn walked away and Nora went up to Rosita, handing over the gun she borrowed, “Glenn, wait for me.”  
Rosita sighed and started following, “well, what the hell else are we going to do?”  
Abraham yelled back, “go to Washington! Save the whole goddamn world!”  
Eugene looked to Abraham, “I'm going to. That way's clear, we don't know what's up north. We can go with them until we find another vehicle, and stay with them until then. Trust me. I'm smarter than you.”  
With a sigh, Abraham reluctantly joined Eugene in gathering their things from the back of the truck and joined the group, all five of them making their way down the gravel street.


	4. The Tunnel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Walking Dead does not belong to me

“You've never looked out for me! I dedicated my goddamn life to helping others, and it was because you always treated me like I didn't exist. You were never there for me when I needed you.”  
Nora looked at her father with tears in her eyes, her hands wringing themselves in her dirty shirt.  
He looked at her with contempt, “You think I didn't notice you, didn't know you existed? You were all I saw, and every time I looked at you, it reminded me of her. She died because of you, and I couldn't stand to act like I was okay with that because I'm not. I know that I should have felt some fatherly compassion towards you, but when they pulled you out of her and the doctors gave you to me to hold, I couldn't look at you. All I could see was your mom's dead body on that hospital bed.”  
Nora exhaled and let the tears that had been aching to be let out were released, dripping down her sweaty face and onto the ground.  
“I was a baby! I had no control over what happened to her, and you know it, you just don't want to admit it. And if you really want to go there, need I remind you why I never had a grandmother?”  
“Don't you dare!,” he seethed, “don't you dare bring that up.”  
“Dad, I never blamed you for that, okay, the only reason both my mom and yours are dead is genetic, it had nothing to do with us. You're just looking for someone to blame for the guilt you felt for growing up without a mom! And I was the easy choice, because I was the only one left.”  
While they were both letting out pent up anger and remorse, neither of them heard the biters approaching them.

 

___

Nora arrived at the gates with two packs slung over her shoulder, dried blood caked underneath her fingernails.  
“Hey,” she yelled, her voice cracking. “Hey, let me in!”  
When she was preparing to yell again, the doors shifted, and started to slowly show a normal Georgia town. But not apocalypse normal, like the kind of normal where her and her friends would go shopping in a place like this.  
People were walking around with ice cream, laughing. Some were riding bikes around the healthy plants in the middle of the road. A mother and father were pushing their newborn around in a stroller.  
Nora blinked a few times to try and make this apperation go away, but it stayed. The untouched buildings stayed. The people were still going about their lives.  
A man she hadn't even noticed until he was a few feet away from her smiled, “what's your name?”  
“Uh, Nora,” she let out, still debating whether she was dreaming or not.  
“Well, Nora. Welcome to Woodbury.”

 

___

“Hey, hey, Nora,” Glenn lightly shook her shoulder.  
She flinched and looked up at the Korean pizza delivery boy, and sat up, rubbing her eyes.  
“My watch,” she slurred.  
“Yeah, my watch just ended. When you're done, it's Abraham's turn.”  
She stood up and wiped the dirt from her jeans, knowing that there was no point in it, but an old habit that still presented itself at times. Nora started walking over to the tree they were all taking turns sitting at to look over the group, but stopped when Glenn started talking again.  
“Were you even sleeping?”  
“No, I haven't been able to yet.”  
His voice became gentle, something Nora had noticed even when he didn't.  
“I can take this watch too, you should get some sleep.”  
“No, no. I don't mind,” she sat down against the trunk of the tree, “besides, you're still recovering from an illness. Thanks, though.”  
He nodded and laid down by the small fire, using his bulletproof vest as a pillow.  
She adjusted her position to get in the most comfortable position one could find by a tree. She took her knife out and rested it on her legs in front of her to make it easier if she needed to act fast against a biter later.  
Right when she started to hear soft snoring coming from Glenn's direction, Abraham walked over and sat down in the space beside her.  
“Hey,” she said.  
“You need to get some sleep.”  
She groaned and laid her head down on her arms, “oh god, you heard me and Glenn?”  
“I'm just saying I haven't seen you do it yet. At first I thought it was cause you were in love with him. You know, another cliche love story, the girl's in love with the boy she's trying to get to his girl.”  
She gave a short laugh, “yeah, that's definitely not the case. We just met right before you guys showed up. I barely know him, but I kind of feel responsible for him I guess. I helped him escape the prison and now I feel like I should see that he gets to Maggie. It gives me a purpose for now, it helps having something to work towards when this is the world now, you know? Like with you getting Eugene to D.C,” she looked at him, “we both have our reasons, our missions.”  
He looked at her with a start of a smile, a look of respect.  
Nora sighed and looked back at Glenn's sleeping form, “but what do you do when the mission's over?”

 

___

They were all up by dawn, packing up and moving along the train tracks. Eugene was trying to make conversation with Nora, talking about things from making homemade batteries to the video games they used to enjoy. Nora liked Eugene, she found his uniqueness entertaining. When you looked at him, mullet and all, scientist isn't exactly what comes to mind, and that made him all the more interesting to her. She liked how he wasn't ashamed of it. So they talked throughout the morning, and it helped the trip seem like it was going quicker. It was nice having someone to talk to, even if she didn't know what he was talking about half the time. Usually Glenn or Abraham would talk to her a little bit, relating to Glenn over their shared experience at the prison, and relating to Abraham over the weight of their missions they both wanted to accomplish. But Glenn was focused on getting to his wife, and Abraham was a man of little words anyways, and usually talked to her when they settled down for the night.  
Eugene and Nora were in the middle of their conversation when Glenn stopped right in front of her. She looked up and saw a map on attached to a street sign a few yards away. It had a black chipped star made from a marker a while ago with the word Terminus written in big bold letters beside it. Above the map, there was something written in blood, obvious enough so that whoever it was meant for wouldn't pass it on accident.  
Glenn go to Terminus -Maggie, Sasha, Bob  
Glenn looked at the map in shock, and took off. He ran as fast as he could down the tracks, tears in his eyes, I'm gonna find my wife repeating in hid head over and over. He smiled, feeling hope coursing through his veins.

 

___

After the rest of the group ran to catch up with Glenn, they were exhausted. Abraham yelled out to Glenn, “Hey! We're stopping here. We're all tired, and tired is slow, slow is dead. There's a building right here, let's get some rest.”  
Glenn turned back, “No, I have to find Maggie.”  
“Yeah, well Rosita and I need to get Eugene to D.C, and same the whole damn world. So we're going in that building, and we're going now!”  
Snarling stopped their disagreement, and they all looked up at the biter that was a few steps from falling onto them from the building's roof that had been broken in half.  
Eugene was right underneath where the biter was about to land and Glenn started running, “hey, hey, hey, watch out!”  
Abraham and Nora got to him quicker, and Abraham pushed Eugene, who bumped roughly into Nora. She fell down right on her knee, and grunted in pain.  
Rosita walked up to her, “are you okay?”  
Nora turned over and grabbed onto her knee with her face scrunched up in discomfort. “I'm fine.”  
Rosita looked at the group, “we've got to stay here, who's gonna help me carry her up?”  
Nora started to stand and felt someone grab her elbow and help her up, “Hey,” a familiar gentle voice came from her side, “you okay?”  
She looked over at Glenn, “yeah, I'm fine.”  
He looked into her eyes with concern, “you wanna stop or you wanna keep going?”  
“No, keep going, I'm good.”  
“You sure?”  
“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed, trying to get her footing.  
Glenn let go of her arm once she started walking again, “look, if she can keep going, then you can too. Or,” he paused, “you guys can stay here and we can go. You don't need us, we don't need you.”  
Rosita scoffed, “wow, you're an ass.” She pointed aggressively towards Nora, who was limping, “She will do whatever you say because she feels like she owes you. Man up, and stay here for a few hours.”  
Glenn ignored her and went up to Abraham, “the only reason you want to stop is for Eugene, right? Lets go until at least sundown and then I'll give Eugene my riot gear. It keeps him safe, you're on the road again by tonight, everybody wins.”  
Rosita cut in, “Uh, yeah, except her,” she pointed over to Nora again.  
Abraham looked at Rosita, “you're not her mama. She says she can walk, she can walk.” He nodded to Glenn, “you've got yourself a deal.”

 

___

They all looked at the entrance to the tunnel, Glenn go to Terminus -Maggie, Sasha, Bob, written in more blood on the cement by the opening.  
“Well we can't go up and over,” Abraham said, “how about around?”  
Glenn sighed, “no, that will take a day, maybe more. It looks like Maggie went through, and if she did, then I am. We're close.”  
“Shut up for a second,” the sergeant stepped closer to the entrance of the tunnel, “you hear that?”  
They all focused on the tunnel, and heard snarling echoing off the dark walls.  
“That there is a long dark tunnel filled with the undead, and I'm not one hundred percent certain I can get Eugene through there alive. Now I would say play it safe and go around, but I know you won't do that, so this is where we part ways. You're on your own.”  
Nora walked up to him, “no you're not.”  
Glenn nodded at her in appreciation and Abraham held out two cans of beans, “you'll need these.”  
Glenn declined, “no, you'll need them on your trip.”  
“So will you.”  
Nora sighed and moved in front of Glenn, accepting the food, “thank you,” she smiled.  
Abraham pulled out a flashlight from his pack and held it out, which Glenn the took.  
Abraham stood up and pulled his pack on. Glenn looked to him, “I'm sorry I um,” he cleared his throat, “hit you in the face.”  
“Oh yeah, sorry about your nose by the way,” Nora added.  
Abraham laughed and looked at them both, “I'm not, I like to fight.”  
Glenn smiled and looked at the ground. Rosita approached him and gave him a hug, “good luck, and don't be an ass.” Rosita then moved over to Nora and gave her a hug too, whispering, “good luck,” in her ear. They pulled away from each other with soft smiles.  
Nora looked to Glenn and they both nodded at each other, indicating they were ready to go into the dark tunnel. When they were starting to enter Eugene spoke up, “you're both good people. And I have to say that you are seriously hot, Nora.”  
Nora laughed, “yeah I'll miss you too, Eugene.” Glenn started silently laughing behind them, and Abraham called out, “hey, say you get into trouble in there, turn around. Follow the tracks the same way we came, and maybe you'll find us before we hit the road.”  
Glenn nodded, “thanks.”  
They watched Rosita, Eugene, and Abraham until they couldn't see them anymore and Glenn looked over to see Nora looking conflicted. “Hey, I know what you're going through. After seeing my friends and family die, and having to leave people again and again, I'm just saying I get it. It sucks saying goodbye.”  
She looked to where Glenn turned the flashlight on, trying to see anything around them, “I kind of had a terrible dad. He had a gift at pretending like I didn't exist. And when he acknowledged me I would always wish he didn't. It's not like he was abusive or anything, he just made me feel like I didn't matter. He would never help me with any troubles I went through. I mean even when I was in the third grade and coming home to tell him about how I was being bullied, he just told me to ignore it and then never said anything else about it again. I told you I've always wanted to help people, felt the need for it, and I did, but I wonder if that would have been different if her wasn't my parent. He never helped me, so the growing weight of feeling like it was my job to help people got stronger, and that's why I became a caretaker. My mom died when I was born, and he blamed me for that, but it wasn't even just that. His mom died when she gave birth to him and he always struggled with that, he didn't talk about it often, but I knew. And when the same thing happened all over again, I think he took all the feelings he felt towards himself and directed them at me because it was easier. I think it helped him lift the guilt off his own shoulders,” she sighed, “and then when the world started dying, we were stuck together. We were only out there for a few days before he died and I found Woodbury. I know I shouldn't have, but I started growing accustomed to the normality of the place. Concerts, and parties, you know? It was easy to make myself forget about what was happening outside the walls. And then the Governor found the prison and convinced us it would be better than Woodbury. At that point we had been attacked recently by your group, so we thought you were bad, and that's what he told us. So I went with them to try and get the prison, believing that your group was psychopaths, which we all realized was a lie too late. The Governor had already killed that man, Hershel, and that's when I realized how wrong we were. So I hid, and didn't fire one bullet. I threw the gun down and tried to stay out of it. I saw some friends die that day, and I tried escaping when I heard you.”  
Nora stopped, choked up, “but seeing my friends die, hell, seeing my own dad die wasn't as hard as when that sword cut that mans head off, “she started shaking, “because the moment that happened, I realized I had made a huge mistake. That I had trusted the enemy.”

___

They were almost through the tunnel when Glenn shined the light on piles of rubble with biters trapped underneath the stones, reaching out to them still desperate for a meal.  
Glenn paused for a few seconds before adopting that determined look yet again, and climbing the rubble, stabbing each biter in the head as he went along. Nora started following him, trying to take the same path so she would only get near the biters Glenn already killed.  
They both reached the top, about to go down the other side when they saw dozens of biters going towards Glenn's flashlight.  
Nora gasped and leaned back, but Glenn kept shining the light on them, luring them closer. “Glenn what are you doing?” she hissed.  
“She's not one of them, Maggie's not one of them,” he looked up decidedly, “we've got to get rid of them”  
“No, we don't have enough ammo, and I only have a knife.”  
“We'll push through.” He set the flashlight down on top of the rubble, moving it to the opposite side of where him and Nora were standing. The biters were drawn to it, and reached their fragile decaying arms towards the light while Glenn went to the other side of the rubble where Nora was and started to silently climb down while the dead were distracted. Nora followed, trying to get down the last few feet, which was just a pile of dirt. She attempted to slide down it on her side like she saw Glenn do, but as she slid, one of the large rocks beside her foot rolled right onto her ankle and she gasped, trying to twist her ankle every which way to release it.  
Glenn turned around and whispered so he wouldn't grab the biters attention, “Nora, what is it?”  
“I- I can't,” she grunted.  
Glenn grabbed onto the rock on her ankle and pulled, his eyes closing from straining to much. The rock didn't budge and he paused to breathe, and then tried again, but it became obvious to Nora that there was no use in it, and the biters were starting to become disinterested in the flashlight.  
She had tears in her eyes and grabbed Glenn by the shoulders to make him look at her, “go, go find Maggie.”  
Glenn looked towards to exit of the tunnel for a beat, and then looked back at Nora, “No. No, I'm not leaving you.”  
Nora smiled at him in defeat, a tear going down her cheek, “Glenn, you can't save me. Even if you get me out, I won't be able to walk. They'll get both of us.”  
Glenn looked at her and then pulled the rock again, “No, there's a way. There's got to be a way.”  
Nora started crying harder, looking at the biters, “Glenn, they're coming!”  
“No, I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving you!”  
She snapped, and yelled in his face, “get out of here!”  
He stopped and looked up at her, finally feeling doubt about whether or not he should stay. Everything in him was telling him to not leave Nora, but this might be his last chance to save his wife.  
“Go!” she yelled.  
Glenn paused and then turned, gun in hand, “No, I'm not leaving,” and with that, he started shooting every nearby biter.  
Nora started pushing the rock off of her while trying to pull her leg out, but it still didn't help. She looked fearfully at Glenn when she heard his gun clicking. He threw it against the cave wall, and grabbed a rock that could fit in his hand, “come on!” he yelled.  
He grabbed the biter closest to him by the shirt and smashed it's head in, it's brains and blood spattering against the wall. “Come on!” All the biters were now surrounding Nora and Glenn, and she started hyperventilating, their impending death causing her to struggle for air. She knew that she would eventually die, most likely sooner than later, but she just didn't expect it to be over within minutes.  
Glenn kept smashing their heads in, and let out a yell every time one dropped to the ground. When Nora closed her eyes to the terror around her, and a squeal made her jump.  
“Get down!”  
Glenn dropped down and threw his body in front of Nora's, covering her head with his arms. They heard a machine gun going off, and Nora peeked out from behind his arms to see all the biters on the ground, unmoving.  
Once it went silent, Glenn stood up and covered his eyes, a bright light coming from the end of the tunnel.  
Nora squinted, making out the dark shapes in the light, “who is that?”  
Maggie stepped out of the light and had time to whisper Glenn's name before she threw her arms around him, crying and laughing at the overwhelming emotion.  
“Maggie,” Glenn whispered, keeping one hand on the back of her head, running his fingers through the ends of her hair, pure joy enveloping him, and bringing tears to his eyes.  
She pulled away from him with a smile lighting up her face, and they kissed passionately, both on a high of finding each other at last.  
Glenn pulled back and pressed a gentle kiss on her head.  
“Hi,” he chuckled, wrapping her in his arms again and basking in the moment.


	5. Those who arrive, survive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Walking Dead does not belong to me, though it would be really cool if it did

Nora was sitting down against the tunnel wall, rubbing at her ankle to regain feeling. When is started to go from completely numb to a vague sting in her bones, she tried standing up. She started to stumble and tried to lean her hand against the wall before she fell, but Glenn caught her arm and helped her regain her step. She smiled in appreciation and looked up at his wife who was standing a few feet away.  
Once Nora was standing right, Maggie approached her, “we didn't get to officially meet,” she smiled.  
“Oh, I'm sorry, Nora, this is Maggie,” Glenn gestured.  
Nora and Maggie shook hands, “he's uh,” Nora started, “he's a big fan of yours,” she gave a tired laugh.  
Glenn smiled, “I met Nora on the road. She helped me get away from the prison, and saved me when I passed out from that disease that was spreading in the cell block. I couldn't have made it here without her.”  
Maggie surged forward and pulled Nora into a tight hug, whispering, “thank you,” in her ear. Nora was frozen for a second before wrapping her arms around the girl and exhaling in surprise.  
Glenn continued, “she could have just left me after the prison, but when she heard what I was doing, she said she had to help me. She's just that kind of person.”  
Nora smiled at them and then started walking along the wall with one hand on it keeping her steady. She walking over to Abraham and his group, and Sasha and Bob, figuring that the reunited couple would want some alone time.  
However, Glenn and Maggie followed her over, hand in hand. When Sasha heard the crunch of their approach she turned her shocked gaze to the couple, “He,” she pointed at Eugene, “he just said he knows what caused the outbreak.”  
Glenn sighed, “yeah, he does. Let me guess, Abraham asked you to go to D.C with him.”  
Abraham stood up, “alright I'm glad you found each other. Now there's no reason that the eight of us aren't on our way to D.C tomorrow morning.”  
“No,” Eugene spoke up for the first time, “up until now we had an armored military vehicle, and we still lost people. We're a day's walk from Terminus, and only 55% of the way to Washington.”  
Rosita put her hands on her hips, “it couldn't hurt to check. They could have supplies, we could even try recruiting more people. Let's go for at least a day or two, restock, and then we can be back on the road the Washington.”  
“I'll go with you guys to D.C,” Sasha said to Abraham, “but I have to go to Terminus. My brother could be there.”  
“Fine,” Abraham sighed, “if Eugene says I'm wrong, I'll listen. But tomorrow we go to the end of the line, and then Washington. No exceptions”

 

 

The building wasn't exactly hidden. It was exactly like their signs they made drawing people there, they were smart, made it so you couldn't pass it by accident. It was an old two story brick building, stretching out across the land it occupied itself on, surrounded by forest. Black letters were written as big as they could make them on the second story, spelling out Terminus in rich contrast against the faded red bricks, now so old they appeared a dull orange.  
A fence surrounded the building, weeds tangling themselves in each crevice and making it's way to the barbed wire at the top. What struck Nora as weird was that the fence gate was fully open, open to letting anyone at all in. She thought that in times like this someone would take up extra precautions.  
Abraham walked to the front of the group and held his gun at his side, “you ready?”  
Rosita started walking past him towards the gate and they all followed in silent agreement that it was time to see what this place held for them. There could be useful supplies, Sasha could even be reunited with her family. So they went through the gate.  
It was silent. At first they all thought it was abandoned. It just looked like an old building, until they rounded the corner of it, and Nora's eyes widened. There were plants everywhere, lovely living plants that was so uncommon now that every time she saw one she just had to admire it, and chastise herself for never appreciating them before. Two older woman were taking clothes off a clothesline, laughing over a joke. Nora looked over at what looked like a large grill, with large chunks of meat sizzling on it, and her mouth started watering.  
Abraham cleared his throat and the old lady's heads shot up. One set the shirt she was holding on a nearby table and walked up to the group.  
“Hello, how can I help you?” she smiled, the light not quite reaching her eyes.  
“I'm sergeant Abraham Ford. We came here to see if you had any supplies to help us on our trip to Washington.”  
“And see if my brother's here,” Sasha interjected.  
Maggie cut in, “and to see if this place is livable. The place where our group was staying is destroyed, and we need somewhere safe.”  
The old woman kept her smile, almost as if it was a permanent feature on her face. Like she had been doing it so long that there wasn't any emotion behind it, like it was nuisance to her but she couldn't stop. “Well you've found the right place. We have plenty of supplies for you,” she looked at Abraham, “and for you, dear,” she looked to Sasha, “we have had many new people show up in the past few weeks. Perhaps your brother is one of them.”  
The woman started walking off, “if you would follow me, I can show you to the people in charge and they can give you supplies, or, if you choose to stay, direct you to a room here. I've been here for a few months and haven't thought of leaving yet, it's a wonderful place. I almost forget what it feels like to be hungry.”  
The group followed her through the doors at the side of the building, leading them into a huge room that was nearly bare but for a few tables set up in the middle where people were now sitting.  
“Terminus- sanctuary for all, community for all. Those who arrive survive,” a woman kept repeating into a microphone as if she was a broken record.  
The men at the other table stood up with smiles plastered on their faces, “Hello.”  
Abraham grunted as a sign of his own greeting.  
Gareth looked down at the gun Abraham had, “oh, we're going to have to ask you to hand over your weapons. See, this is a peaceful place, it's a requirement for newcomers.”  
Glenn and Maggie shared a look, and Nora started to get uneasy. She knew that she only had a small knife for protection, but it was still a safety net for her, and to give that away was frightening. If it came to hand to hand combat, she only knew a few moves from the only time her dad ever helped her out, when she was fourteen and he taught her the basic self defense moves one fall afternoon.  
Gareth observed their disinclination, “don't worry, we've never had to use weapons here. This system has worked for us since we built this refuge. Once you hand them over, I'll answer any question you have.”  
Sasha marched up and handed her gun and knife to him unwillingly, but thinking of her brother.  
Eugene, Rosita, and Bob were next. Then Glenn and Maggie. Nora inspected her knife, turning it over in her hands. Her footfalls occupied the room and she held the end of the knife out towards Gareth. Abraham was behind her, the last to give up his weapon.  
“Thank you for your compliance.”  
After Gareth set their weapons on the table, the old woman who had greeted them spoke, “Now if you would, please wait outside in the courtyard. We're going to move your weapons and then I'll show you a tour of the area. It won't take any longer than a minute or two.”  
“Hey!”  
She turned back around when Abraham shouted.  
“I'm not staying. We agreed on more supplies, and then we're leaving.”  
She beamed, “don't worry. This is our normal procedure. If you still want to leave by the end of the tour, we'll be happy to give you your weapons back along with more supplies. I'm just asking you to give this place a chance.”  
Abraham didn't sit well with any of it, but he said nothing else, and marched out the door back to where they had entered, the savory smell of the meat hitting them. Nora debated asking someone who worked there if she could have a bite.  
“What do we think?” Glenn asked them.  
“It seems nice. It's obviously well run if they're this successful after all this time,” Maggie said.  
Nora looked up, “yeah, but so did Woodbury, and that was run by an insane man, he just hid it well.”  
Glenn and Maggie shared a look, both jumping to their past experiences in Woodbury. Maggie being degraded and Glenn being nearly killed. They both tried to forget about it, but knew it was a futile attempt to keep the demons at bay. So they kept going, and got past it for the most part, but sometimes they would be evoked.  
Abraham nodded slowly at her statement, caught deeply in thought about the possibility she was exactly right, “yeah, well-” he froze and looked up, “get down!”  
Nora wheeled around and her eyes shot up to the roof of the building, her mind quickly registering the man with the gun right before he started shooting, gravel coming out in chunks near her feet. She heard Glenn yell, “go, go, go!” and she erupted into action. Rosita grabbed the sleeve of Nora's shirt to get her moving quicker. Glenn shoved Maggie in front of him so he was closer to where the man was shooting, and Abraham went to reach for his gun, then when he remembered it wasn't there, he tried shielding Eugene with his body as they ran. Nora stayed as close to the group as she could, nearly smashing into Glenn's back when they all went around the corner where they had arrived, trying to get back to the entrance of the gate.  
Her feet were still being shot at, and the shocks of the gravel hitting her legs got her adrenaline going, a sensation she hadn't had often, a foreign energy coursing through her and only focused on the sole purpose of surviving. So she bolted and ran faster than she ever had, passing by until she was with Abraham in the front, and the gate was so so close. There was a second where she thought they were gonna make it out, the gate was right there, right in front of them, not even ten steps away. The chain link fence with the weeds crawling through the spaces reaching out to them, crying for them to take those last steps.  
And then the gate slammed shut in an instant, and people emerged from behind those weeds with guns aiming right at them. Nora halted and looked back at the group in fear. A silent, “what do we do now?” passed between them all, and Abraham yelled, “come on!”  
They followed him into one of the rooms of the building, a pitch black area with only a candle in the corner and the light from the open door to guide them. Abraham made a signal with his hand indicating for them to stay silent. Nora feared that her heartbeat would somehow give them away. She knew that logically, it wouldn't happen, but the irrational fear stayed.  
Nora didn't know who's arm she gripped, but she held onto it tightly so she wouldn't be alone.  
Distract yourself, she thought. So she counted her breathes to keep them steady.  
She felt someone behind her grip her arm as well, most likely for the same reason she was. Nora didn't think anything of it past that, but then she felt someones breath against her ear.  
“Found you,” it whispered.  
Before she could make a move, Gareth pulled her roughly away from the arm she held and she shrieked.  
“Nora!” Glenn yelled.  
Sporadic sounds of humming and clicks made Nora look at the ceiling where all the lights were turning on. In the light, the large cult like room appeared, and so did the people.  
The two old women were in the group that surrounded them, and Nora could now twist her head enough to see that the man holding her was the same man who took away their weapons. She threw her head back and heard the crack when her head connected with his. Gareth's arms slacked and she ran out of his hold, right into her group. Glenn put a hand on her back and Nora looked at the old woman who had promised them a tour.  
“Now?” she asked, looking to Gareth.  
He took his hand away from his throbbing forehead, setting a glare on the group, “now.”  
And everything went black.


	6. Terminus part 1

“C'mon, we've got to get back to get them in there quick, Gareth's waiting,” the man grunted, lugging Eugene's body.  
The other man groaned, dropping Abraham on the ground, “Jesus, this fuckers heavy.”  
Abraham's eyes shot open, and he looked over at Nora, who was next to him being carried by a large man sporting a dark, grungy beard, indistinguishable items sticking out if it.  
The man holding her spoke up, “Jacob, pick his ass up, we've got to be quick.”  
Abraham shut his eyes when he saw the man glance over at him, and waited a few seconds before looking, and he saw that Nora was groggily opening her eyes.  
All Nora could see at first was a bright light before her eyes adjusted to seeing her group being carried over to train carts. But she noticed that Abraham was the only one on the ground, and it looked like the man was struggling with carrying his weight. And then she saw that his eyes were open as well.  
He looked down at his hand, indicating for her to look too, and then held it up, his palm facing her, showing for her to stop. And then he quickly moved his hand back, so it appeared it hadn't been moved at all.  
Another man came up to help the man, Jacob, hold Abraham, “you take his arms, I take his legs.”  
Jacob put his arms under Abraham's and lifted him as much as he could. Abraham silently waited for the other man to grab his feet as Nora watched through slits unsure of what to do. The man leaned down to get to Abraham's legs, and right when his face was near his feet, Abraham kicked out, one foot hitting the mans neck, and the other hitting his nose, both weak spots that was sure to freeze him for a few moments that would be valuable, as he had to get Jacob too.  
Jacob tried to get his arms out from Abraham's body so he could do something, but Abraham just tightened his own arms, trapping Jacob into sinking down until Abraham threw his head back and it connected with his own head, causing blurry black dots to scatter across Jacob's vision.  
Abraham jumped up, and saw the other men who were carrying them start to drop his group and run towards him with weapons already out. Abraham then remembered that he didn't have any weapons anymore.  
Nora saw the men all circle Abraham and she quickly debated whether she should get up or not. Okay, I don't have my knife, and I barely know any hand to hand combat strategies. Oh god, but I can't just watch this happen.  
One man tried to get Abraham in a choke hold, but before he could, Abe turned around and used the same method on him, his forearm wrapping around his neck tightly. Abraham knew that he could probably take a few of these guys out, but it would be difficult with them all trying to get him at once, so he went for the hostage tactic.  
Abraham gave a deep laugh, “lets play a game. Whenever any of you come near me, this man's neck gets snapped,” he pats the mans head.  
The man who was holding Nora turned around, thinking, when he saw that Nora's eyes were open, and he smirked. He grabbed Nora by the hair, and her eyes widened by this turn of events. The man then took his had from her hair and put her in a choke hold too, looking at Abraham, “two can play at this game, let the man go, and we'll let the girl go.”  
Fuck, Abraham thought, thinking through his options. Okay, guess fighting it is. He let the man go, and immediately, the other men were upon him. Nora was still being held in a choke hold and something popped into her head. It's useless to try and get his arm off, he's too strong. I have to turn around. She remembered her lesson she had learned as a teenager to turn around, because the person doesn't expect it, and it releases the hold on the vital parts of her neck so she can breathe again. So she spun as quickly as she could, and once she saw the surprised look on his face, she head butted him as hard as she could. His arm slacked, and she pushed him away.  
Abraham was still going strong, fighting off whoever he could. He punched without even looking where his punch was headed, but it had been working. Nora carefully stepped over Maggie's unconscious form to get closer to Abraham. Shit, shit, shit, what do I do? She panicked, looking around for anything useful, which proved futile. All of the men looked to be at least six feet tall and even the skinniest guy was still larger than her small form. Her 5'4” frame was hardly useful in situations like this.  
“What the hell is going on here?”  
Nora turned to her right to see Gareth, his face pinched in irritation.  
Two of the men fighting Abraham saw Gareth and went still, “uh, two of them woke up.”  
Gareth crossed his arms, “yeah, and there's eight of you, so what's the problem? Knock them out, and get them in the damn train car.”  
“Yes, sir,” a man mumbled.  
Gareth walked away and went up to three men leaning against a side of the building, one of them smoking a cigarette and the other two debating how well their sports teams would be doing in the real world before the dead walked the Earth.  
“Hey, go help them back there,” Gareth said upon approach, “they can't do this one simple task by themselves,” he scoffs lightly.  
The men immediately go to help, and Nora started panicking even more, knowing that she wasn't much help, and the only other person awake right now was Abraham, who was still fighting off multiple men.  
So, going against her urge to still jump in and help Abe, she knew her best chance was to act unconscious. She prayed no one noticed her get down on the ground and fake her blank appearance amongst the fighting. Her eyes now closed, she heard the loud thud of Abraham being hit, his body thudding to the ground, and tried not to flinch.  
“Christ, he's tough,” a man choked out, one hand massaging his stomach from where Abraham punched him.  
“Let's get them in there before any of the others wake up.”  
Nora felt someone grab her under her armpits and start to ungracefully lug her along the ground, her feet dragging lifelessly. Suddenly the air felt different, and she could tell that her surroundings were now dark. She was dropped on the floor and she heard more footsteps close to her.  
“That all of them?”  
“Yep.”  
She heard her group's bodies being dropped, and didn't open her eyes until she heard footsteps recede and a slam of a door.  
The slam was echoing in the small space she found herself in, and she fought through the dim light until she could see all of their faces.  
Nora rested a hand on her erratic heart, “oh god,” she whispered. What have we gotten ourselves into?  
Eugene was closest, laying to her right. She grabbed his arm and started shaking it roughly, “Eugene, Eugene wake up.” He laid motionless so after a few more seconds, she moved onto Maggie, to her left.  
“Maggie, get up,” she said louder now, “Maggie, please get up.”  
Nora was about to try the next person when Maggie started blinking, dazed.  
Nora exhaled in relief and smiled down at the girl she had recently met, but felt like someone she had known for years, thanks to Glenn telling stories about this nice farm girl he never would have crossed paths with if it weren't for this disaster.  
Maggie sat up, holding her aching head, “Nora?”  
Nora rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, “I'm really happy you're awake, but I need your help getting the others up. I don't know what's going on in this place but we need to be ready.” Nora turned around and started trying to get Rosita up.  
Maggie followed her lead and started shaking Glenn, “what happened? I remember getting to that room, and then nothing.”  
Nora replied after seeing Rosita start to shift, “I don't know. They knocked us all out somehow, and I heard them saying something about putting us in a train car, but that's it.”  
By the time the two girls had woken everyone, they all stood together trying to think of any options that would help. None of them had their weapons, they didn't know what Terminus wanted them for, and they didn't know how they would escape the train car, let alone the entire place without being gunned down.  
It was as if Nora could physically see Abraham's face go from confusion to war strategy, his history in the military had prepared him for hostage situations like this.  
His gruff voice rang out as their guide, “Rosita, there's a nail in the wall beside you, it's the only one that's not snug in there, you can get it out if you keep working at it, it's not much, but it's something. Eugene, use that damn mind of yours and try and find any other ways we can get out of here besides the door. Glenn, near the floor there's wood chipping, see if there's a possibility of breaking off a piece by tonight, we could use it as a weapon. Sasha, I need you by the door with me, if that opens, I could use your fighting skills. We don't have a ton of shit to work with here people, let's move it.”  
Nora was standing wondering how she could help, while Rick was outside being led to the train car.  
Rick looked at his two best friends and his son, itching for them all to be near him, not easy shots for the sniper on the roof of the building. But he didn't just want them near him, he wanted his whole group back and safe, not separated after the destruction of their shelter with himself, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl being led into this demented maze he still didn't know quite what to make of yet. A place where they had Glenn's watch, and Maggie's poncho. He pushed away the darkest part of him saying that they were already dead. No, they're alive.  
Daryl and Michonne were both directed to stand behind Rick in a line. Rick looked at the people of Terminus, “my boy!” he yelled.  
Gareth nodded at Carl, “go on, kid.”  
Carl stepped behind Michonne and they all walked into the train car in front of them. The difference between the sunny outdoors and the dark train car had them all squinting, their eyes painfully adjusting to their surroundings. Rick rested his hand on Carl's shoulder and exhaled in relief. They were still in a terrible position, but at least his son was with him and not taken. And now after what had happened with the group Daryl was with the night before, Rick felt an even stronger sense of responsibility to keep his son with him and as safe as he could in the circumstances given.  
Rick pressed a quick kiss to Carl's head, and turned to Daryl and Michonne. Daryl grunted, “what the hell do we do now?”  
There was movement behind Rick and he whipped around with the gun he had stolen from one of the Terminus men. He flipped the safety off before even seeing who had been the source of the noise.  
Glenn looked at the four in disbelief, “Rick?”  
Maggie pushed forward, “oh my god.”  
Rick slowly lowered the gun, struck by not only the fact that they were here, but that they were here. They could have went anywhere and they all ended up stuck in the same spot. He didn't even pay much mind to all the new faces there.  
Nora looked between Glenn and Rick, realizing this was the same man she watched approach the Governor and try to coexist in the prison with him. The same man who's face haunted her in her sleep, his completely anguished yell after the Governor had killed Hershel forever imprinted in her head.  
Maggie stepped up and grabbed Rick's hand, “Rick, these people...we don't know what they want from us, but it's bad. They've got our weapons, they have at least dozens of people, they surrounded us with guns at the fence. They have the upper hand here.”  
Rick squeezed Maggie's hand, trying to reassure her with a small gesture, “No, Maggie, you know what we have? Us. We just got away from the Governor, you think this will take us down? We can get through this, we've had worse before.”  
Maggie looked at him gratefully and she stepped back, Glenn putting an arm around her shoulders.  
“Plus,” Rick smirked, “they're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.”  
Nora looked at Rick in confusion as Glenn asked, “find out what?”  
Rick stood there in silence, looking very determined and deadly, the darkness adding to his already intimidating look. He looked t everyone in that train car, Nora already feeling his leadership aura radiating off of him, he looked like a man that could convince anyone to follow him into battle.  
“They're fucking with the wrong people.”


	7. Terminus part 2

They didn't know how much time had passed, and it left them feeling even more vulnerable. After Eugene had reported back to them that he couldn't find a new exit strategy and their only hope was the wood Glenn was still working on and the nail Rosita now had clenched in her fist, they prepared for the worst. Abraham and Sasha stood on either side of the door which they knew had to open eventually, and Nora felt useless there, but better after Maggie had went and reassured her that there's not much any of them could do in here. These people at Terminus had a nice set up for a trap, she gave them that. But she was still at a loss for why they needed them. They already had their weapons, they could have just killed them all right there, but instead they took their time to get them in here.  
A booming noise coursed through the train car and they all jumped, alert. Abraham was already in a fighting stance when a small panel in the roof above Nora opened, casting down blinding light. Nora didn't see what was thrown down, but heard it clatter on the ground near her.  
“Get down!” Abraham thundered.  
Nora followed his command blindly and covered her head with her arms, quickly dropping to the ground. Through her arms, she saw smoke pouring out of the object, and just as she saw this, her throat started aching and she was sent into a coughing fit. Her eyes watering, she slowly tried to find other people in her group, but the smoke made them nearly invisible. She kept one arm over her and used the other trying to reach out to anyone. An arm grasped hers and she immediately felt comfort at this small contact.   
“Nora,” someone wheezed. She looked towards where the hand had come from and saw Glenn's faint figure through the white mist enveloping the small space.   
“Glenn,” she coughed, grabbing his hand in a tighter hold. He used his free hand to grasp around for Maggie when the door slammed open. As if the fog wasn't enough, the sun sent her into a white daze. She now couldn't even see her own hand out in front of her.  
She felt movement around her, “how many does he want again?”  
A gruff voice answered this stranger, “five for now.”  
Her eyes were trying their hardest to adjust, and she saw a glimpse of that man, Rick, being knocked out on the ground. Her breathing became quicker, and Glenn's arm was ripped away from hers. Grunts and slams reached her ears, and she figured that had to be Abraham putting up a fight.   
“How many you got?”  
“Three, and we've got that blonde guy from that other one.”  
“Okay, grab one more, then let's get moving.”  
Just seconds later, she felt the man lift her up from the ground and swing her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. To be fair, she was small though. The man carried her out of the train car and she looked back at it, catching sight of Abraham by the door, blood running down a cut from his head.  
“Abraham!” she struggled, grunting as she hit the mans back.   
Abe looked up and right as he grasped the wall and stood up, determination in his eyes, one of the men from Terminus slammed the door shut.   
“Shit,” she whispered, her chance at help gone in an instant.  
She looked up to see who else was taken. Looked like Rick, that redneck guy, Glenn, and herself. The blonde that those guys had talked about appeared to already be wherever they were headed towards.   
“You got four others?” she heard a familiar voice ask.  
“Yep, was gonna take that ginger too but he was putting up too much of a fight.”  
“That's fine, we'll figure out a way to sedate him later, but for now-” he stopped speaking and Nora heard footsteps come near her, “ah, good to see you again.”  
She looked up to a smiling Gareth, standing right in front of her.  
“You can let them down, Branden, but you two,” he pointed to the two men casually waiting by the wall, “tie them all up, hands and ankles.”  
The building they were in looked like it could be an old factory, high ceilings and metal walls. Cold tables with bodies placed on them, bins labeled for different uses, surgery tools in rows for the easy access of the people working at Terminus, and severed body parts stacking up in a corner. Whatever this building was once for was now home to psychopaths.   
Nora was thrown down to the ground, being treated more like an object than a person. She had thrown her arms back in an attempt to help ease the landing but once one of her elbows hit the ground, a searing pain went up her arm. She hissed, holding it closer to her chest and trying not to jostle it too much.   
Glenn had been knocked out like Rick, but Daryl was silently glaring at their captors. Daryl saw out of his preriferal that the redheaded girl in the train car with them earlier was trying to nudge Glenn with her foot while Gareth was busy talking to the guys that had carried them.   
Glenn groaned lightly and opened his eyes. Nora leaned down, “Glenn, you have to get up, okay?”  
He started sitting up, looking around, “where the hell are we?”  
“Their building. They took us from the train car, and brought us in here, and,” she gulped, cringing at the body currently being sawed into pieces on a table, “we're kind of in a shitty situation right now.”  
He tried ignoring the noise of the hand saw, “Maggie?”  
Nora tried her best to smile at him, make him feel better, she couldn't imagine being separated from a spouse, just to reunite and be separated again, “she's fine, she's in the train car with the others.”  
Gareth stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Glenn and Nora, “hey, didn't I tell you to tie them all up?!”  
His men were startled, “oh shit, sorry Gareth.”  
They pulled out zip ties they already had prepared in their pockets and went over to the four. Daryl kept a poker face when they came over and tied up his wrists and ankles, and they got Rick tied easily since he was still unconscious. Two men came over to Glenn and Nora. Glenn sat without moving while they tied him, but Nora gasped at the ache from her elbow when her arms were pulled back. There wasn't really an option to fight back right then, even if one of them got out, they didn't know exactly how many people resided here, but judging from the people who had surrounded them at the fences, it was way more than they could handle right now.   
Gareth pointed at the man still sawing a body in the corner of the room, “go get the blonde one.”  
The man turned off the saw and came back a moment later with a quivering form. It was a skinny guy in maybe his mid twenties. Nora could see how much he was shaking from across the room, and she couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him almost immediately.  
“Line them up,” Gareth smirked.  
Nora felt her insides churn when she saw Rick being dragged to what appeared to be an old bathtub, with a man holding a baseball bat, wearing a protective mask and white lab coat. What the hell are they planning to do with that?  
Daryl was marched over, and the blonde was taken over to sit closest to the frightening man with the bat. Once Daryl's knees hit the ground next to Rick, Nora was grabbed at by her hair, and roughly pulled up.  
“Hey!” Glenn yelled at the man holding her.  
Nora grunted, “get the hell off.”  
The man then grabbed her arms and shoved her to the floor on the other side of Rick, and Glenn was pushed down next to her.   
Gareth walked over to Rick and started thumping him on the head, “I'm sorry about this, but we need you up,” he said, his eerie smile unnerving Nora.   
Rick jolted at the touch and sat up quickly, looking around.  
Gareth clapped his hands together, “ah great, now we can start.  
Rick's mind was immediately aware, and he reached underneath his pant leg near his ankle, grabbing onto the wooden stake Glenn had quickly handed to him in the train car when he got it free. He glared at Gareth, a fire in his eyes.  
Gareth leaned down in front of Rick, “the ringleader,” he smirked, “I can relate to that, you want what's best for your people, willing to sacrifice anything, I'm guessing. The thing is, today that will all end. I pity you for that, I really do. Because you see, I'm the leader around here, I get what you're going through. But me, my people, well, we've got to eat, and if that means getting rid of you, that's what I'm going to do. However, I got word about that bag you hid in the forest, and I just want to know what that's all about before we,” he gestures to a man holding a metal bat, “get on with it.”  
Rick listened to Gareth's spiel with a blank expression, “a 44 magnum, colt python, automatic weapons, a compound bow, and a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you.” Rick's power exuded from him, he was in a situation that seemed impossible to get out of, and Nora could clearly see why he's a leader. He was confident, and it made others confident.   
Gareth laughed, but there was malice there, “boys, get to work, I'm going back out there for public face. More may arrive today, got to be ready.”  
The man holding a metal bat was practicing his swings behind them, and Nora had an inkling that the man was just doing it to make them even more scared in their final moments. He wasted no time after Gareth left the room, and hit the blonde stranger with a crack to his skull, and another one of Gareth's men stepped up with a long lethal knife, slicing at his throat as if it were tissue paper, no effort at all, and from that single swift motion, the man was now slung over the side of the tub like a puppet. Just moments ago, he was gasping in terror, and now there was nothing left. And that's when the panic truly set in for Nora.  
She screamed, the blood pooling down the drain leaving crimson streaks along the way. This wasn't supposed to happen. I just got away from people like the Governor, I can't survive the prison just to die in an old factor, this can't be how it goes. Her hands started profusely sweating, and she used all the strength she had to try and break the ties on her wrists. She also knew that her efforts were futile, but the adrenaline and the horror coursing through her was overriding logical thinking and problem solving. Eugene would be great for this, she thought.   
The man with the bat then moved over to Rick, he lifted the bat with ease, an electric feeling of knowing he was about to take away another human life gave him a high like no other. So he paused before his swing, soaking in the feeling with the knowledge that this excitement would be short lived, and soon he would be out of toys to play with.   
He swung, and right before it connected with Rick, an explosion rocked the building, and the bat fell out of his hands. Nora's head smacked against the concrete floor, and Glenn, Daryl, and Rick fell down beside her. But where she was now reeling from her altered vision, Rick was immediately up, his hands free from him cutting his ties while Gareth was talking to him. And he was out for vengeance, life had thrown him fucked up situations, one after another as if it was all a game, and Rick came out more powerful each time. He wasn't the man at the camp saying. “we don't kill the living,” anymore, he knew better now. He advanced on the man who was just about to knock him out, and thrusted the stake in the mans neck, his artery gushing out blood, leaving him a motionless puppet.   
The other still held a knife in his hands, dripping with the blonde kid's blood, the blood of the kid Rick and Carol had met not long ago on a run. Him and his girlfriend were trying their hardest to survive and even though they had made it that far with no fighting skills or strengths, they still made it, and Rick had offered for them to come back to the prison. Then his girlfriend was ripped apart by walkers, and the boy was nowhere to be found. Until today, where Rick had only seen him a minute before his blood was dripping from the knife this man was holding right now.   
Rick's blood boiled with the unfairness of everything that had happened, not just today, but since it all started, and he stomped over, jabbing the stake into the mans stomach, then ripping the stake in an upwards motion, creating an incision going from his stomach to his throat. He stepped back, letting him bleed out, and then ran over to his people, cutting their ties.  
Nora felt the stake break her ties, and she jumped up, her vision still a little off. Rick cut Daryl's ties last and yelled at them, “check the room there for our weapons!” He pointed at a connecting room, and Daryl immediately took up the job, slamming through the door and coming back less than a minute later with guns, knives, and his crossbow.   
Daryl threw Nora a knife, and she knew it shouldn't matter, but she felt a twinge of disappointment seeing that the knife she now held wasn't her knife, the one she was separated from from at the entrance of Terminus.   
“Get ready!” Rick boomed, and then he slid open the doors leading into utter chaos outside. Nora felt like she had just left a battlefield only to travel and find a new one, and she was no soldier, she wasn't equipped for this. She stayed close to the boys, biters all around. Smoke made her throat clench in distaste, and the smell of blood overcame her senses. Screaming was making her ears ring, and she practically glued herself to Glenn's side as they ran through the area. She didn't even know which way was the right way to go, but she followed Rick nonetheless.   
A walker's moans were in her ear, and Nora whipped around, digging her knife into its skull. She tried to rip her knife back out, but it was lodged there. Her breathing got quicker, both out of fear of being left behind without any of the boys noticing, and fear that she had just lost her only weapon. After a few seconds of struggling with the knife, she gave up, and kept running. Glenn was a few meters ahead with Daryl and Rick, but he turned around when he saw that Nora was no longer near him.  
“Nora!” he yelled at her, she quickened her pace, running full speed to catch up with him.  
He waited until she was back with him, and then they kept going, running up to Rick and Daryl. Their train car was about twenty feet ahead, and more biters were surrounding the area. Flames seemed to be everywhere, Nora couldn't pinpoint where they came from, and for the moment, she didn't care, all she cared about was how close they were to escaping.   
She was focused on the train car, and then Glenn suddenly stopped. “Hey, hey you guys!” Daryl and Rick came back, “there's someone in here.” He gestured to a train car Nora didn't even see when she was running. Sure enough, there was a faint banging coming from inside the car. Glenn tried opening the doors, “it won't open. Rick, hand me your gun,” Rick stood there reluctantly, and Glenn got close to him, desperate, “if we don't save them, then what kind of people are we?” Rick waited a moment and then handed Glenn the gun.  
Glenn shot the lock off the train car and a man with long scraggly hair and a beard thundered out, grabbing Nora's shirt and getting so close to her face that even through everything around her, she could smell his reeking breath. “We're all the same!” He laughed hysterically, “we're all the same!” He pulled even harder on Nora's shirt, and she tried to push at his sweaty chest. “We're all the same” he smiled, Rick grabbed the back of the man's shirt and pushed him into an incoming biter. Nora exhaled shakily and then they kept going.   
Once they reached the train car, Rick slammed the door open and yelled at his group, “We're fighting our way out, go, go!” He shot at biters near the door, and then ran back. The group started filing out the door.   
“Dad!” Carl yelled, Rick ran to him, caressing his face, making sure he was fine before they started running towards the fences. Nora ran in the middle of Abraham, Rosita, and Sasha, figuring that was as safe as she could be without a weapon. Michonne ran with her makeshift weapon from the train car, stabbing biters effortlessly. Eugene ran next to Rosita and Abraham as they protected both themselves and him, the cure. Rick threw a coat over the fence and pushed Carl up first, “c'mon!” Everyone sped up, Eugene went next, then Bob, and one by one they went. Nora was pushed forward by Rick, and she jumped up, grasping the fence. She flipped onto the other side and landed on dying Georgia grass. She made room for Rick to land last, and he jogged over to his duffel bag of backup weapons. He pulled out machete's, guns, knives, and everything they could need. They each grabbed a weapon, and made their way away from the supposed safe haven, now up in flames, just like the prison, and Woodbury before that. And with the black smoke plaguing the air, Nora had to wonder if this was how it would always be.


End file.
